Chalkboard seating charts are very popular right now. So I thought I’d share some I just completed and explain the process for those who’d like to DIY it.

It all starts with preparation. For this project, there were actually 3 boards approximately 6′ x 3′.

They were made out of plywood and painted with chalkboard paint. (They were made by another company and delivered to my home studio.)

You can purchase plywood at Loew’s or Home Depot and have them cut them to the size you need.

The chalkboard paint for this project came from Loew’s. It’s made by Valspar.

The first step is measuring the space you have, allowing for room on the sides (these fit into custom made holders) and figuring out the height of the lettering and the spaces in between names as well as the space needed to accommodate two columns if needed.

For these boards, there were 216 names. The size for each name was 1″ and the spaces in between were .5″.

Next I designed the headers. Here’s a pic of one laid out on my light table. If you are not a lettering artist, you can use a font. Just size it on your computer, print it out and trace it on the board. You can do the same with flourishes.

My Belluccia and Dom Loves Mary fonts can be used if you want a script font. Both also have flourishing packages you can purchase separately as well if you want to combine with a font you already have.

The header is transferred onto the chalkboard with transfer paper in white. This can be purchased at any craft store. You can see in the pic that I created the lines and spaces using painters tape that I cut to be .5″.

This eliminates the need to erase lines as you will also spread the chalk marker paint as you erase.

Note: Try to find .5″ tape, masking or painter’s tape, to save time. I found it after the fact at Uline.com. I did not find it at any local stores.

You can then go over the flourish and letters with a chalkboard paint marker.

The one I used was called “Bistro Chalk Marker”. It’s made by Marvy and can be found in single colors at Hobby Lobby.

If you make a mistake, be sure to wipe it off right away. It says that it comes off when you want but that wasn’t my experience.

But if you wait too long and need to paint over to re-do it, be sure to wipe off as much as you can with a wet rag or else it will bleed into the paint.

A note to remember…if you are going to do the list alphabetically you are limited on making any last minute additions or changes.

I would suggest, unless you are totally sure about your guest list, to list by tables. Even if you have to paint over a name, you have more flexibility.

Here’s a pic of a small Chalkboard Welcome sign I did for a previous client using my Belluccia font, flourishes and ornaments.

You can also check out more signs from these previous DIY Chalkboard posts here , here and here!

I’m busy at work designing a new font, but in the meantime, you can check out my current two calligraphy fonts here.

Belluccia has remained on the Best Sellers list for 19 months was named one of Myfonts Most Popular Fonts for 2011 and is available at myfonts.com.

My second calligraphy font, Dom Loves Mary (a “December Rising Star” and 2012 Best Seller) is also available on myfonts.com.

I’m excited to share this newly released calligraphy font, Slapjack, created by the fabulously talented Stephen Rapp. I’m a HUGE fan of his work!

Slapstick has a very versatile look. It would look beautiful on an invitation for a wedding or other event.

Or be a perfect fit for a logo or retail packaging. I could definitely see this on a wine label.

I am in love with that “h” !! And he did an incredible job with the all caps look. Clear and readable yet stylish.

Here’s a little more about this versatile font.

Slapjack is a unique rendition of a broad-edged calligraphic script ideal for packaging, signage, and titling. With a glyph count well over 700, Slapjack is a fully-featured pro font. Using Adobe InDesign which supports Stylistic Sets allows you to instantly convert your text to a version without baseline connectors for a more streamlined look. These can also be selected via the glyph palette.

It’s so cool how you can choose to have a connected or non-connected look. It really changes the feel.

I had the pleasure of meeting Stephen in person and found him to be extremely humble for such a talented lettering artist as well as a truly kind hearted and gentle man.

New Cuisine is one of my personal favorites and is 33% off for a limited time! Love the modern yet slightly retro look.

There are too many fab fonts to show here so be sure to check out his full collection on myfonts.com.

Here’s a little bit about Stephen:

Lettering and typography are his passion. He’s studied and practiced lettering and type design for over 2 decades. He was a recipient of the Hermann Zapf Scholarship Award in 1997 and has been a lettering artist and type developer for American Greetings since 2000.

Some of his accolades include:

Published in Letter Arts Review, Scripsit, Bound and Lettered, the recently released “Modern Mark Making” by Quarry books, and Typography 30 by The Type Directors Club.

He has taught classes and workshops on both calligraphy and lettering and has been a faculty member at the International Lettering Arts Conference and Typecon.

In addition to his work with American Greetings, Stephen designs commercially available fonts for P22, Veer, and MyFonts.

I’m delighted to know such a great designer and human being.

Enjoy this Marvelous Monday!

Debi

My two calligraphy fonts, Belluccia and Dom Loves Mary (both “Rising Stars” and Best Sellers on myfonts !) are always available on myfonts.com.

The Dom Loves Mary script font, recognized as a “Rising Star” for December 2012 is available at myfonts.com.

My first cursive font, Belluccia has remained on the Best Sellers list for 19 months was named one of Myfonts Most Popular Fonts for 2011 and is available at myfonts.com.

A decadent five course meal on the rooftop of the Gramercy Park Hotel provided a unique and memorable dinner party that reflected their love for food and wine with 50 of their closest family and friends.

What a great rooftop view!

Homemade Honey Liqueur in beautiful bottles served as favors.

So many wonderful details made this wedding everything they wanted it to be.

Since I know these have now been mailed, I can finally show you a custom retro Christmas card I designed for one of my sweetest clients.

The client ordered the cards and envelopes with liners online from www.cardsandpockets.com and had them shipped to my studio. This allowed me to match the colors. I have to say, the quality of the cards and envelopes was very good for the price.

They wanted a retro look created with all hand lettering. My favorite!

The lettering and other design elements were created by hand using a round brush and gouache paint.

It was scanned into the computer and placed in the card designed in Photoshop.

They were printed on white 6″ x 6″ folded cards.

Since they live up north, adding some snow was a must!

Next I’ll be creating cards for a Holiday Card exchange. Need to get those out by Dec. 12. Better get back to work!

Have a Tenacious Tuesday!

Debi

The Dom Loves Mary font, #2 on the Hot New Fonts list, is available at: myfonts.com